Ephraim Schwartz

A couple of pubs in Dublin, Ireland, sending free drink vouchers to their customers using short messaging service (SMS) may not sound like big news, but when you get behind the novelty of it, you discover something far more newsworthy.

As U.S. carriers struggle to get third-generation wireless technology such as 1XRT and GPRS (general packet radio service) out the door, other parts of the world are already exploring less costly alternatives.

In a move intended to take wireless computing to the mainstream, Toshiba Corp. next week will announce plans to launch a nationwide wireless service that spans corporate and consumer applications.

Although far from a market leader in number of units sold, the Research in Motion Ltd. BlackBerry device is credited with setting the standard for what users, both corporate and consumer, want in a handheld device.

Handspring unveiled two Treo handheld models, the Treo 270, a colour upgrade to the monochrome 180, and the Treo 90, a Palm OS-based colour organizer that lacks any inbuilt wireless capability.

CTOs and other senior executives have high hopes for deploying mission-critical applications over wireless. Concerns about the venue abound with issues such as security, infrastructure and PDA limitations hampering acceptance.

Intel Corp. announced Wednesday its next generation of flash memory chips for cellular phones and handheld devices which will increase the data transfer rate by fourfold and reduce power consumption by as much as 60 percent.

General Motors Corp. announced on Thursday its intention to use Microsoft Corp. .Net to create Web services on top of its design and collaboration applications.